Ghosts
by Teenwitch
Summary: Friendship was simple. It was uncomplicated. Painless. Which was why sometimes she hated it, that she was so much in love with him. LoVe.


**Title:** Ghosts 1/1  
**Author:** Teenwitch  
**Pairing:** Logan/Veronica  
**Summary:** _Friendship was simple. It was uncomplicated. Painless. Which was why sometimes she hated it, that she was so much in love with him.  
_Missing scene from 2x22 Not Pictured.  
**Rating:** PG  
**Author's Note:** Yeah, so I've written a fair bit in other fandoms, but this is only really my second attempt at VM. So you know... if this sucks, that's why ;)

x

The Neptune Grand was probably the last place she wanted to be.

In fact, if there was one place in Neptune she hoped to permanently avoid in the future, it was there.

Ghosts haunted her with their malicious whispers as she slowly strode past the reception desk, and entered the empty elevator. The dull thump of the doors closing her off from the lobby did nothing to quieten the voices, and she closed her eyes, leaning against the back wall and waiting out the ascent to her floor.

She couldn't make herself forget her last elevator ride in that building.

Logan had quietly left her and her father alone after they realised he was still alive, and she had been momentarily distracted by relief and happiness until news of his father's murder reached them. She couldn't pretend she was upset, but it wasn't the kind of justice she had envisioned for him. She would have preferred him to rot away in jail, to suffer the way she and Lilly's loved ones had suffered. It was a bittersweet ending. She was finding it difficult to come to terms with, so soon after Cassidy's suicide and the truth about the bus crash victims… and other things she preferred not to think about. She couldn't imagine how it was affecting Logan.

At least it finally sent one of her ghosts to rest.

The elevator doors admitted her to Logan's floor, and she stepped into the spacious hall, inwardly bracing herself for the coming conversation.

She would never forget how he had stayed with her after… everything. She thought she had lost the one thing that mattered to her in all the world, and he was still there, quietly comforting her.

She supposed he knew what that felt like.

She rapped carefully on the door, resting her thumbs casually in the pockets of her jeans. She waited for a moment, hearing no sound on the other side. She wondered briefly if he was even there, before the door slowly opened.

He didn't look any different than he had the last time she saw him, though she hadn't really expected him to. Logan had perfected the art of concealment. And this, she knew, was grief he wouldn't admit to feeling.

Some part of her didn't really want him to.

"Hey," she said, softly, eyeing trailing over his. He was clad in his typical baggy pullover, and his earnest brown eyes focused on her slowly.

"Hey," he replied quietly.

She swallowed, feeling an unexpected sense of awkwardness. She was worried. About him, about… a lot of things. She didn't know when it became so hard to express. "How are you?"

"Fine. You know." He shrugged, clearly wanting to dismiss her concern with the offhand gesture. His eyes grazed her, softening noticeably. "How about you?"

She looked down, adding her own imperceptible shrug. "As well as can be expected, I guess, considering the circumstances."

Logan nodded. "Right."

Silence infused the air between them, and it was an odd feeling. She was so used to filling their silences with a sling of words and comebacks. That was how they worked.

Logan glanced at her, rolling his eyes and wagging inward with his index finger. "Come on. If we're gonna do the awkward thing, we can at least do it behind closed doors."

She smiled faintly, stepping over the threshold. He closed the door behind her, and she gazed around his suite, like she hadn't seen it a million times before.

She crossed to the back of the sofa, gazing down at the Xbox set strewn absently on the floor. It made her think of Dick, and that led to thoughts of Cassidy… and she closed her eyes.

"Veronica…" Logan's low, hesitant voice reminded her of the younger boy she had once known, and it saddened her when she realised those days were well and truly over now.

They were the only two left.

She turned around to face him, back flush to the sofa. He pursed his lips, stepping forward, until he was right in front of her. He didn't quite seem to know where to start, and she nodded slowly, reading the torment and weariness playing over his features. They mirrored her own prevalent emotions.

"I know," she said softly, reaching up and placing her hand soothingly on his arm.

He gazed down at her, sighing deeply. "I'm tired of missing this," he said quietly, staring at her intently with his soft brown eyes.

She stared back, swallowing hoarsely. She remembered his drunken speech to her the night of the Alterna Prom, the words she heard repeating themselves over and over like an omnipresent mantra in her head. 'I thought we were epic…'

Epic. She had brushed it off at the time, but the word kept taunting her with its truth. She studied him quietly, lifting her hand and lightly, gently, stroking his cheek. He deflated a little, sighing wearily and closing his eyes against her palm. Then she leant forward, and placed a tentative kiss on his lips.

The rush of familiarity and comfort was undeniable.

Logan's hands circled her waist almost immediately, tugging her into him, kissing her more fiercely. She felt tears well in her eyes at the electricity coursing between them, and stretched up on her toes to better meet his height.

The whole year had been so complicated. There was Duncan, who made her feel safe and treasured and loved. Her first love. Memories that would always be affiliated with the happiest time of her life, life with Lilly, Duncan and Logan. It was a time they had attempted to capture again, but it hadn't worked. He left doing the right thing, the honourable thing, and she could accept that there was no future between them, even when her heart was breaking.

It was easy to become so deeply immersed in uncovering the culprit of the bus crash, when she was so sure she was the cause. But Logan had always been there; a constant presence weighing on her mind. An often annoying, derisive, _unwanted_ presence, but there nonetheless. She had been happy when they had started to return to some semblance of their normal friendship, had started speaking beyond an occasional snipe in the hallway or some reluctant attempt to garner information. Friendship was simple. It was uncomplicated. Painless.

Which was why sometimes she hated it, that she was so much in love with him.

Logan gently cupped her cheek, purposefully deepening their kiss. He always held her like she was delicate and fragile to him, when he knew better than anyone that Veronica Mars was not someone who needed taking care of. He just did it anyway.

She leant into him readily, the longing and need of the last few months overcoming her with unbearable intensity. His tongue duelled slowly with hers, and he tasted faintly of sugar and coffee. She nearly smiled against his mouth when she considered what kind of quirky breakfast cereal he would eat, balancing herself by tightening her fingers around his forearm.

When they finally, reluctantly, broke apart, Logan rested his forehead softly against hers, and his warm breath caressed her face. "So, Miss Mars," he drawled. "You owe me fifty bucks."

Veronica blinked at him, somewhat bemused by his unexpected declaration. She huffed, faintly amused. "Why?"

"Because I had a running bet with myself that you couldn't resist my manly charms."

She whacked him on the arm, and he grinned. His rare, unguarded grin was infectious, and she felt her own wide smile tugging at her mouth.

The ghosts haunting the fringes of her mind somehow managed to dull to a faint background noise, and she tilted her chin against Logan's mouth, as he pressed another languid kiss on the side of her lips. He traced the smooth line of her cheek with careful, undeniable reverence, wide palm encircling her small waist.

For the first time, she thought she might actually believe herself, when she said she was okay.

**fin**


End file.
